I’d be fascinated to find out in the comments: were you/are you homeschooled? Do you homeschool your children? Are any young parents weighing the option of homeschooling currently? What are some good Catholic resources for homeschooling parents?

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/infographicopen-thread-homeschooling/feed/47What do you think of Pope Benedict’s new Coat of Arms?http://www.catholicvote.org/what-do-you-think-of-pope-benedicts-new-coat-of-arms/
http://www.catholicvote.org/what-do-you-think-of-pope-benedicts-new-coat-of-arms/#commentsTue, 12 Oct 2010 20:30:10 +0000Thomas Petershttp://catholicvote.org/discuss/?p=10600Now this is some great papist fodder – this Sunday a new papal coat of arms was revealed!

Or, more precisely, an updated version of the pope’s original coat of arms was unfurled.

Here’s the new version:

By comparison, here is Pope Bendict’s “old” coat of arms:

It is unclear if this redesign represents the new “official” version of the pope’s coat of arms, or if this will be used in some functions and the previous design will still be used in others. Rome Reports has a nice video showing the new design in its first public use:

Fr. Selvester at Shouts in the Piazza, an international expert on ecclesiastical heraldry, has a great post on the change, and makes three basic observations that we can take from this move:

1. The Pope does not mind having his coat of arms depicted with the tiara

2. The inclusion of the pallium [in the coat of arms] not a fluke but an innovation

3. The Pope is showing that there is a such a thing as more than one depiction of the same person’s coat of arms rather than only one, so-called “official” version that must always and at all times be slavishly copied and used.

Fr. Selvester also writes that it is a “good thing to see the papal coat of arms used in a manner that illustrates well that heraldry is a living art form, open to innovation and always evolving.”

As is true of so many of the pope’s decisions when it comes to the reintroduction of traditional objects, the new coat of arms represents a teaching opportunity that we can presume is pastorally motivated. Hopefully the Vatican will add more explanation about why the coat of arms has been changed. Certainly this decision falls in line with the pope’s well-known affinity for preserving the best of our Catholic traditions.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this news – what do you think of the new coat of arms? Do you like them more or less than his original coat of arms, and why?

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/what-do-you-think-of-pope-benedicts-new-coat-of-arms/feed/25Deacon Fournier: ‘Morally Coherent’ Catholics Can Change this Nationhttp://www.catholicvote.org/deacon-fournier-morally-coherent-catholics-can-change-this-nation/
http://www.catholicvote.org/deacon-fournier-morally-coherent-catholics-can-change-this-nation/#commentsThu, 09 Sep 2010 17:30:52 +0000Thomas Petershttp://catholicvote.org/discuss/?p=10096Over the coming weeks and months CatholicVote will be hosting a serious and spirited conversation about Catholic principles of voting and public action. A perfect starting point to this debate is Deacon Keith Fournier’s article in Catholic Online:

Catholics are not one more “interest group” which can be polled, pandered to and bought. Our social obligation is to promote the true common good, not just use the slogan to sound “catholic” as happened in the last political cycle. We need to promote the truth as taught by the Church no matter what it is labeled in the political parlance of the hour. Our political participation must be committed to human life and dignity, marriage and the family, authentic human freedom, and solidarity. [Continue reading...]

The CatholicVote team has been hard at work for months preparing this comprehensive redesign, and in my completely unbiased opinion, they’ve done a marvelous job.

The new design is slick, intuitive, and chock full of new information and resources!

CatholicVote will be firing on all cylinders in the coming days, so stay tuned for (even more) exciting developments.

If you have any questions or feedback about the new design, visit this page.

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/welcome-to-the-new-catholicvote-design/feed/7Question: What do you think of this Census Poster?http://www.catholicvote.org/question-what-do-you-think-of-this-census-poster/
http://www.catholicvote.org/question-what-do-you-think-of-this-census-poster/#commentsWed, 25 Nov 2009 15:58:58 +0000Thomas Petershttp://catholicvoteaction.org/blog/cva/?p=91This census poster is generating a lot of controversy – some are calling it blasphemous:

Someone against the poster (all quotes via USA Today):

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, says invoking the name of Jesus to promote the 2010 Census is “blasphemous” and “violates the concept of separation of church and state.” Using the name of Jesus for “a political and secular intention, it is definitely an assault against our Christian faith,” Rivera says.

Someone in favor of the poster:

Government did not pay or play a role in creating the posters, says Nick Kimball, spokesman at the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau. “We work with people from all walks of life to get an accurate count but do not provide funding,” he says … Tying the Census to the Christmas story strengthens the message, Cruz says, because “Mary and Joseph, who were both God-fearing, decided they needed to participate.”

What do you think of the poster? Are you in favor of it, or against it, and why?